Avoid the rush

One of the most important things you can do to help control your weight is to keep your blood sugar from spiking. In other words, avoid the sugar rush. A sudden increase in blood sugar means an increase in insulin production. Pretty soon you have an insulin spike. From what I've read, insulin is one of the triggers for fat production. See now why you want to avoid that spike?

Eating things like white bread or candy result in sugar spikes. But this doesn't mean you have to cut them from your diet (though that would be the recommended path, we all know how unrealistic it is to go cold turkey like that). There are two things you can consume with your sugar-laden food to help reduce the resulting spike -- protein and fiber.

Protein helps to balance out your sugar levels, sort of like diluting the sugar's level of concentration. Peanutbutter, milk, nuts, cheese, beef jerky... these are great sources of protein that you can eat immediately before or after your sugary item. I keep nuts with me at work all the time. Sometimes we have cake in the office for birthdays and such, so just before (or just after) having a slice, I'll eat several almonds or peanuts. This will help level out the sugar that will no doubt be coursing through my veins.

Fiber also helps to "dilute" the sugar levels by slowing down digestion. White breads break down much more quickly than whole wheat. So if you have a choice, get the whole grains over the refined carbs.

It's a matter of wise food choices. Avoid that donut if you can, but if you really need to have one, try to balance it with some protein. Have a glass of milk with it. By avoiding the sugar rush, you'll also be avoiding the inevitable sugar crash later.

Water's Role in Cultural Stress

The final part of our "Cultural Stress" series relates to water and its role in stress's wear and tear on your body. After reading this, you'll finally understand why you often get sick or feel run down when you're stressed out.

Working with over 1,200 patients, Dr. Murad has discovered that water is the key to many of the health concerns that stem from "Cultural Stress". Calling this discovery the "Water Principle®", Dr. Murad notes that when "Cultural Stress" hits, cell walls are damaged, causing the water that keeps them functioning to escape. This water loss has a myriad effect. It causes cells and connective tissue to break down, which prevents the heart, lungs, brain and other organs from functioning at optimal levels. To encourage more water into the cells, and strengthen the cell walls to keep the water inside, there are three main components that need to be addressed:

• Protect the barrier function of skin topically by using plant based lipids to protect the skin's barrier.
  
• Put the right nutrients in the body in the form of food and supplements including; Lecithin, which is found in soy, eggs, and spinach and is a major component of cell membranes.
  
• Emotional self-care with physical activity, personal touch and in person contact to reduce stress & isolation.

Dr. Murad goes on to say that "Cultural Stress" is a part of living, but doesn't have to overtake life. Dr. Murad challenges patients to take responsibility for the amount of stress in their lives and find ways to reduce it with the "Water Principle" in mind.

This article was borrowed from a press release, so it wouldn't be right for me leave out the credits for the man behind the article...

Howard Murad, M.D., is a board-certified dermatologist, pharmacist, researcher and Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at UCLA. Dr. Murad oversees the Murad Inclusive Health® Center, the Murad Medical Spa, Murad Medical Group, and the Murad Research Laboratory, all based in Southern California. He is an active member of the American Academy of Dermatology, The American Society of Dermatologic Surgery, The American Medical Association, The Pacific Dermatology Society and The Noah Worcester Society.

Dr. Murad was instrumental in changing the fields of skincare and dermatology. He currently holds 17 patents with several more pending. As a successful author, Dr. Murad has written two books and published nearly one hundred articles on topical, internal and emotional health, and their relationship to the skin. At the core of his research his Water Principle® science that identifies cellular water loss as the final common pathway to all aging and disease.

For more information please call 1-800-33MURAD or visit www.murad.com

Cultural Stress - Part 2

To continue the article I was talking about in the last post, various things contribute to the manifestation of stress...

Dr. Murad says "Cultural Stress" presents itself in three facets:

• Externally -- With extreme skin dehydration, that results in inflammation, hyper pigmentation, dullness and adult acne.
  
• Internally -- Americans eat quickly and often times badly, with 46% of food expenditures on unhealthy fast foods. Poor diet and lack of sleep results in a decrease in efficient brain function and a rapid decline in creativity. Deficiency in foods rich with Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA-3) leads to various ailments including stress; lack of Omega 3's in food may aid in depression. "The saying you are what you eat is true and extends to your thoughts -- which are directly connected to what you eat," says Dr. Murad.
  
• Emotionally -- Blackberrys, cell phones and ipods are all communication tools to stay more connected. However Dr. Murad's notes patients come in, complaining of feeling alone and isolated, while hooked up to them. "Keeping up with the fast pace of life means people aren't talking, aren't touching, and aren't communicating with the all important personal touch. This has a direct effect on our emotional health".
  

And studies echo Dr. Murad's findings. A recent Los Angeles Times article reports Americans have fewer close friends than they did almost two decades ago. "Longer work hours, lengthier commutes and the substitution of Internet connections for live ones ... contributed to the breakdown of social networks."

"Cultural Stress", says Dr. Murad starts young. "It's a vicious and escalating cycle. New parents are anxious about getting their child into the best preschool, placing said unborn child on a waiting list. Once in school, pressure increases, with scheduled play dates and extra-curricular activities. This cycle, to constantly keep up and do better, inducts children early into a culture of stress. Coupled with school, work and increasing affluence, children grow into adults facing the far-reaching effects of 'Cultural Stress'. Trying to keep up with more activities requires more money, resulting in longer hours spent at work." According to a U.S. government report, Americans now put in more hours on the job, than workers in any other nation.

Cultural Stress - Part 1

Stress is something that wears on your health, slowly but surely. You may not feel its immediate effects, but long-term it can really damage your well-being.

I found this great article by a well known dermatologist. It's about something he calls "cultural stress". I'll break it up into pieces since long posts scare off readers.

There is a new form of stress permeating daily life, affecting the entire body, and creating serious health problems inside and out. Coined by Howard Murad, M.D., dermatologist, researcher, and Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at UCLA, "Cultural Stress(TM)" is distinguishable in that it is all pervasive and cumulative. Mentally and emotionally disruptive, "Cultural Stress" plays havoc on physical well-being. According to Dr. Murad, it is a societal crisis; some researchers believe responsible for 90% of health problems experienced, including heart disease, cancer and lung ailments.

We don't pay enough attention to the amount of damage each daily instance of stress has on the body. Each stressor alone is relatively insignificant, but when these individual stressors become frequent patterns, our health deteriorates. I call this 'Cultural Stress'," explains Dr. Murad. Whether work deadlines, supermarket lines, traffic, computer isolation or financial concerns, he notes they all contribute to the stability of an individual's well-being.

Buddy on Demand

I've been reading about this idea. I'm not sure if it's in production or not, but it's kinda funny. By flipping a switch a driver can have an instant passenger. Women can make it appear they have a male companion in the car to deter attackers. The way I see it, more people will likely abuse it for carpool lane use. I wonder if the insurance company that thought of this thought of that?

It's an outfit called Sheila's Wheels and apparently they provide quotes for all 50 states. I've personally never heard of them, but I guess you can get an auto insurance quote either on their website or through their call center.

Join the modern world already

When I'm standing in a grocery store line, I am forever annoyed at the people who are still fumbling with their checkbooks. In this electronic day and age, why are these people still using pen and paper? Have these people not heard of credit cards? Even if they don't have a credit card, debit cards are just as handy these days and work just as well as credit cards.

I personally hate to carry around more than $20 in cash. I usually have less. I can use cards practically anywhere, and it's so much more convenient than counting out the change. Besides, when used responsibly, credit cards actually help your credit history. They help when you're in a jam and don't have enough cash to get that car repair done. They're easy to cancel when they get stolen, unlike cash. Some places you can't even get service if you don't have a card! Why would you not have one?

So people, please quit annoying me by getting ahead of me in the grocery line and dragging out that damn checkbook. Join the modern world and use a card already.

Diamonds

I was reading about legends behind the Hope diamond (a huge, rare, blue diamond). Apparently it was stolen from the statue of a Hindu goddess and it's been bad luck for all who have tried to benefit from it. The original thief was supposedly torn to pieces by wild dogs right after selling it. Eww. Creepy, if it's true.

I don't understand the whole hype about diamonds. Why are they worth so much? Because they're hard to find? Good restaurants are hard to find but I don't see people making such a big deal about it.

But I suppose if you need to get one, for whatever reason, you shouldn't pay full retail price. I'd pick a diamond jewelry store with discounted prices. And whatever you do, don't try to buy the Hope diamond from the museum it was donated to. I don't think you want that curse.

Common trans-fatty foods

If you've read my post about trans fats, you know that I do my best to avoid foods that contain them. When you're better off putting lard in your system than this stuff, shouldn't you do your best to avoid them too?

Some of you already read ingredient labels. That's awesome. That will be your best defense. But some of you maybe are too lazy to do it, or get intimidated searching through all that tiny print. I'd like to make a quick list of common foods that you may or may not be aware are on "the bad list" by containing partially hydrogenated oils.

• Margarine - You already know this one, right? I hope so! This is the worst item on the list.
  
• Cool Whip - About as bad as margarine. You're much better off with real whipped cream.
  
• Peanutbutter - Some brands don't have trans fats, such as Laura Scudder and the brands sold in Trader Joe's. But the common ones like Skippy and Jiff are best avoided.
  
• Non-dairy Coffee Creamer (like Mocha Mix) - If it's trying to be fake dairy, it's likely made of trans fats. This includes the powder stuff.
  
• Nearly all common cookies and crackers in the snack aisle - Trans fats increase shelf life, therefore they're used in things that need to sit awhile, like pre-packaged foods. Even stuff marked as "healthy" may contain them.
  
• Cereal - I was hit hard by this one. I love cereal. But the vast majority of cereals in that aisle are tainted with trans fats. Look for cereals made by smaller brands instead of General Mills and Kellogg.
  
• Cake Mixes - Most boxed cake and muffin mixes contain trans fats for longer shelf life.
  
• Commercially deep fried foods, especially fast food - Trans fats take high heat very well (they were created by high heat to begin with) so most commercial places that do a lot of deep frying use large vats of partially hydrogenated oils to do the frying. I try to avoid fast food altogether.
  
• Croissants from cheap sources - Croissants are flaky and yummy, supposedly with buttery goodness. However butter is 3-4 times as expensive as margarine, so places that mass produce croissants (like Costco or any store brand) probably use margarine.

You wouldn't put dirty fuel into your car, would you? That's why you need to be choosy about what you eat. Avoiding the foods on this list is a step in the right direction. But if you can help it at all, read those ingredient labels!

TMI about BMI

Maggie asked a good question about body mass index, also known as BMI. What is it and how is it measured? It's basically a measure of a person's body fat by calculating one's weight relative to their height. You can calculate this yourself by taking your weight in kg and dividing it by your height in meters, squared.

But if you're a mathaphobe like me and don't want to deal with the metric system or equations of any kind, it will be so much easier to just use an online BMI calculator like the one found here. The resulting number you get is supposed to tell you if you have a healthy amount of fat on your body.

Under 18.5 = Underweight
18.5 - 25 = Healthy Weight
25 - 30 = Overweight
30 - 40 = Obese
Over 40 = Severely obese

This measurement can be a little flawed, however. It can't determine whether your weight is from fat or muscle. Muscles mass is naturally heavier than fat, therefore your BMI will be inaccurate if you work out a lot. The BMI calculations were designed more for measuring sedentary folks like me and most bloggers.

My personal opinion (and I have no training whatsoever, so please remember this is just my opinion) is that these types of generic measuring systems are too broad for people to take much stock into their results. They don't take into consideration any special circumstances. My bones are very dense, which I'm sure translates into more weight for me. Chances are you already know if you're overweight or not. You don't need a forumula to tell you.

For more detailed information about Body Mass Index, check out this page.

Resisting the call of junk food

One of the most difficult things about eating healthy is resisting the junk food. They're everywhere and so easy to get a hold of. How do we say no? Here are a few things that have worked for me...

Find alternatives to junk
We often snack out of boredom. Our mouths just want something to do, so give it something to do. I find that keeping a bag of munchable veggies is handy for this. Baby carrots and sugar snap peas are great for this. They're crunchy, slightly sweet and can satisfy your mouth's boredom. Any of you who know me know that I looooove me some ice cream. I've found that sometimes I can stave off that craving by eating yogurt instead. It's also sweet and creamy, and after finishing the cup I find I don't need the ice cream anymore.

Drink some water
A lot of times when we crave snacks, we're actually thirsty. For some reason our bodies aren't that great at informing us of thirst. Most people go through their day to day in a mild state of dehydration. I've read different articles on how much water you're supposed to drink a day. My take on it is it varies from person to person -- not just what size you are, but how active you are as well. Here's a good article about how much water will work best for you. Next time you in a snacking mood, have a nice, long drink of water instead.

Think about all the crap
I know what nasty things trans fats can do to you, so I avoid foods that contain them whenever I can. The vast majority of junk foods have it. When I think about that crap hanging around in my body, it turns me off and I no longer want what I was craving.

Resisting temptations is a mind game you play with yourself. It's the angel and the demon sitting on your shoulders. Which one are you going to listen to?

Giving in to temptation

Over the weekend my sweetheart had a craving for some Kentucky Fried Chicken. She's actually been wanting it for about a month and I've been a big bitch by talking her out of it every time. That stuff is so not good for you. The chicken itself might be fine, but what everyone needs to remember is that fast food restaurants use trans fats for frying purposes. It sustains high heat and repeated uses very well, plus it's much cheaper than normal oils. (Why do you think margarine is a fraction of the cost of butter?) But it is evil and not really food at all.

Anyway, her pouting always gets to me, I have little willpower against it, so finally I said yes. We went and picked up a bucket-o-chicken. We had ourselves a nice little dinner. However an interesting thing happened. After we sat back, our appetites sated, she turns to me and says, "You know, it wasn't as good as I remembered it."

It had been many many months, maybe even a year or more, since we've had KFC or any kind of fast food fried chicken. Maybe we lost the taste for it, which is a really good thing. Some studies have shown fast food to be addictive. Maybe our memories became amplified over time. Whatever happened, it's highly unlikely we'll ever buy KFC again. This seems to be one case of giving in to temptation that actually worked in our favor.

Monitors again: LCD, CRT, WTH?

One thing about monitors that I only learned recently is the difference in eye strain between LCD and CRT monitors. (LCDs are the cool flat-panel monitors while CRTs are the traditional heavy monitors with the gigantic ass.)

All my life I've used CRTs because they are cheaper. I'd used LCD monitors, and they were neat, but I never used them enough to notice any difference in terms of how my eyes were reacting to them. On some days when I took fewer breaks from computing, I would develop headaches. Closing my eyes would make me immediately feel better, but I had to keep working.

One day they hired a new web developer at the office. We got to talking about monitors and he was saying that he only uses LCDs, and since he started working here he's been going home with headaches because they only have CRTs here. I wasn't sure if he was exaggerating or not, but it might explain my own headaches.

Soon after that we were sent to a training facility to learn some new software they were going to have us use. That whole week we worked on LCD monitors. We stared at those screens all day that whole week and I never once developed a headache. This confirmed for me that what my coworker was telling me was true.

I learned that the biggest difference between the two types of monitors (besides the obvious size difference) is that CRTs flicker while LCDs don't. You can set the refresh rate on CRT monitors to improve things, but even if the flickering is imperceptible to you consciously, your eye still perceives it. LCDs don't have this problem, which allows you to stare at it for longer periods of time without becoming fatigued.

This doesn't mean you don't need to take breaks. You really should, every half an hour if you can. But LCD monitors will really help reduce any eye strain you might be experiencing. They cost more, but I think they're worth it if you spend lots of time in front of it. And who couldn't use the extra desk space?

Monitor the height of your monitor

The positioning of your mouse and keyboard aren't the only things important in combatting repetitive stress injuries. Your monitor plays a role too. I used to work at the front desk of a hotel and the computer monitors there were embedded into the front desks's counter. It was horrible. I had to bend my head to look down at it all day, straining my neck muscles in the process. And because I spent so much time on the computer at home, the problem only worsened. My neck and shoulders were constantly tense.

Ideally, when you are in a comfortable sitting position, your eyes need to be level with the upper third of your monitor. You can accomplish this by either adjusting the height of your chair or adjusting the height of the monitor. Office supply stores carry various fancy monitor stands, but plenty of low-budget solutions will work too. For years I had the city phone book and a full Staples catalog stacked under my monitor. There are also surge protectors designed to double as monitor stands.

Neck strain will lead to headaches due to the constant tenseness. Taking a few easy steps to put your monitor at the correct height is an easy way to avoid this. Sometimes a simple change is all you need.

Need answers?

I try to offer good information here, most of it stuff I've just learned myself. But what if you have questions that I don't have answers to? First of all, I'll try to answer them if I can. I love learning new knowledge. I mean, how else would I have spit out three posts about beans after someone idly asked me how to use them?

But there will be cases where the question just isn't appropriate for this space. Where do you go then? Well I'll tell you. You visit my renter. Let me tell ya, if Useless Advice from Useless Men can't answer it for you, no one can!

Exercise with a twist

One of my coworkers was sharing with me a bit of advice that a personal trainer friend of his was saying. It seems to make sense, so I'm going to share with you all. He was saying that the folks who have nicely defined abs and obliques spend such huge quantities of time exercising, that it really isn't practical for the rest of the human race. Each muscle group needs to be worked individually, so you'd have to perform many different exercises for sustained periods of time. There's just not enough time in a day for most of us to keep up.

According to this guy, the solution to keeping your midsection fit in the least amount of time is to work a twist into your running or walking. When we run or walk, we usually keep our bodies fairly straight as we propel ourselves forward. Try twisting your upper body with each step you take.

I gave it a try and found it wasn't difficult to incorporate a little twist into my walk. The hardest part was remembering to do it. I would often get to thinking and revert to my normal walk. After walking my usual distance, I found myself breathing slightly harder than when I walked without twisting. More muscles being worked means more oxygen is required. This is great, because it took no extra time than if I were to walk normally. You should give it a try.

Vegetarianism can be tricky

Being a vegetarian, whatever your reasons are, isn't easy. Protein is an incredibly important nutrient you get from meat, and when you cut out the meat, you have to actively seek out vegetable sources of protein to replace that.

I once knew a girl who was not only vegetarian, she was vegan. She was vegan and overweight. I watched the food choices she made... lots of potatoes, rice, french fries, and peanutbutter sandwiches. The peanutbutter was probably the best thing she ever ate. The rest was so loaded with carbs and trans fats, it was no wonder she was overweight.

Carbs aren't evil, but eaten in great quantities without enough protein to balance it out, it makes your pancreas pump out the insulin in spikes, causing your body to store more of the glucose into fat than it normally would.

The biggest challenge any vegetarian has is to get enough protein into their diet. Beans are an excellent source. So are nuts and soy products (like tofu). If you're including dairy, milk and yogurt are great sources as well. Whole grains are also good choices to make. The vegan I told you about tended to eat a lot of processed foods, so most of the nutrition had been processed right out of it. You'll find more protein in whole grain bread than white bread.

The other important thing to do when restricting your diet is to vary the foods you eat. Each food item has different nutritional properties to it. Eating the same thing every day is a sure way to become deficient in something, so change it up as often as you can. This is true for everyone, not just vegetarians. A varied diet is healthier than any fad diet where you eat nothing but grapefruits in the morning or nothing but cabbage for dinner. There are a lot of weird ones out there. You don't want to get bored with what you eat either, right?

So, bottom line, include some source of protein in your diet to balance out your carbs. Choose unprocessed foods whenever possible. Vary the foods you eat to maintain balanced nutrition and interest. Eating healthy doesn't have to be a chore.

Veganism

I sometimes wonder if I would be better off on a vegetarian diet. I might be able to swing it if I could still eat eggs. But I don't think I could handle being a vegan. There's a lot of restrictions and discipline involved. Anything that comes from an animal, you can't eat. But some people do it. If you're interested or even mildly curious, perhaps you should check out my renter, The Vegan Diet. Chock full of recipes and useful information!

Sometimes a change of equipment is all you need

Have you found that the shoulder of the arm you mouse with is often tight, painful or sore? A few years ago I starting noticing this. The muscles in my right shoulder blade would be constantly tight and sore. One night it got to the point where I woke up with an extremely sharp pain in my upper back. It seriously felt like someone had stuck a knife in my back. Certain movements would cause the pain to shoot up one side of my back, all the way to my neck. I could scarely move. I couldn't turn my head in one direction. It was really bad.

So I started mousing with my left hand. I'm not exactly ambidextrous, but mousing is pretty easy. Pretty soon my left shoulder started to hurt too, so I started switching hands periodically over the course of a day. This would prolong the time I had before the pain started again, but inevitably it would come back.

The problem lay in the fact that I had to lift my arm up to use the mouse. Lowering the height of the mousing surface did help since I didn't have to lift my arm as much, but that didn't help a much as changing the equipment I was using. I found an ergonomic keyboard that also had a touchpad in the center. This eliminated the need for lifting my arm up to use the mouse. I just need to shift my hand a little and I could move the cursor around no problem.

The keyboard I use at work is by Adesso. It's sloped like Microsoft's ergonomic keyboard and has a sensitive touchpad that's easy to use. Since switching to using this my shoulder blade pains have eased quite a bit. I still get stiff muscles a lot, but it's not as bad as it used to be. I still have a mouse for when I need to do intricate mousing, like with images and stuff, but the majority of my mousing is done with the touchpad. The keyboard is a lot more expensive than your standard one, but it's totally worth it. Pain will eventually lead to injury, and you want to avoid that whenever possible.

furniture article

I was reading this article about how furniture mimics the cultural advances through the decades. I think this is partially true. Recliners came about from our need to lounge for hours at a time in front of the TV. However I'm sure if they had recliner technology in the Bronze age they would have welcomed it completely. As much lounging as some of those fat Romans did? Heck yeah, they'd love to have a roomful of recliners to spread their lazy asses upon.

I think furniture follows the technology of the time. I mean, everything else does, right? Those vibrating massage chairs would've come in handy for farmers 6000 years ago after a hard day's work, but the technology just wasn't there yet. It's obvious, isn't it? Yeah, this was a silly article. What the heck are banquet chairs? I don't know, chairs used in a banquet? Wouldn't you just rent those instead of buying them? Oh well, this is a silly post anyway.

No wonder car insurance keeps going up

I read today that California has six of the top 10 cities with the highest rates of auto theft. I'm sure I live in one of them. Yippee. This same article goes on with a list of things you can do to prevent your car from being stolen. Like locking your car. No, really? I was wondering what those weird little buttons in each door were for. Don't leave your keys in your car. WTF? Are that many people so stupid that they need to produce an article like this?

It's not until halfway down the list that we get to something interesting, called the "bump-n-rob". Some car thieves will rear-end you lightly, then carjack you when you pull over to check for damage. Sneaky assholes. It also recommends not leaving your car registration or title in the car. Okay, title I understand. But hello, cops always ask for license and registration! Why would I not leave the damn thing in the car? The thief is gonna take the car regardless of whether or not it has registration with it. Like they're gonna care.

No wonder insurance in California is so expensive. I'm always looking for a cheap car insurance quote to top the one I have. It's annoying. *sigh*